Elevator



(No Model.)

0. G. OTIS.

ELEVATOR. N0. 369,297. Patented Aug. 30, 1887. Yxgi. T'lgk G a f i 4 a IY :1 i I fl U z 65:; 1W 7 I 6 f% n I W '10 4 WITNESSES: l/VVE/VTOR611mm: oi xe i q 5ZW ATTORNEYS N nuns. Phnlml ihagnphdr, Washington. ac.

UNITED STATES PATENT Price.

CHARLES G. OTIS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELEV

Aron.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,297, dated August30, 1887.

Application filed December 31, 1886. Serial No, 223,108. (No model.)

To aZZ 2071-0111, it nmy concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES G. OTIS, a oiti' zen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Elevators, of which thefollowing is a speciiication.

This invention relates to elevators; and it consists in a device forstarting and stopping the elevator, the novel features of which arefully pointed out in the specification and clai ms, and illustrated inthe drawings, in which-- Figure 1 shows an elevator constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of theair-compressor. Fig. 3 is a section of a four-way cock. Fig. 4 is amodification of my device.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

The elevator which I have represented in the drawings is operated byhydraulic pressure; but I do not wish to confine myself to hydraulicelevators, since my invention can be applied to all elevators"which areoperated by a liquid or fluid under pressure.

In the drawings, the letter A designates a car of an ordinary elevatorsuspended from a rope, B, which. passes over the stationary sheave O andunder the traveling sheave D, and is then firmly secured to thecross-beam E. The traveling sheave D is attached to the piston-rod of ahydraulic motor, F, so that when the latter moves up or down thetraveling sheave D will move with it and cause the lowering or raisingof the car A,the latter being guided in its course by guide-posts G.

His a valve which controls the passage of the water or fluid to and fromthe motor F, so that by operating said valve the car A can be raised orlowered, or brought to a stop at any point in its course. This valve His usually operated by means of a hand-rope, which is connected to thevalve by suitable gearing, and which extends through the car and throughits whole course,so that the elevator attendant is enabled to operatethe valve H by pulling said rope in the proper direction.

The object of my invention is to dispense with the hand-ropes andoperate the valve H from the interior of the car by means of compressedair.

To the bottom of the car A, I secure an airpump,l,of any convenientconstruction. This air-pump may consist of a cylinder,a,in which isfitted a piston, I), provided with openings 0, which are covered byflap-valves (Larranged to admit air to the cylinder when the pistonmoves down. This air-pump is connected to an air receiver or reservoir,J, by means of openings 6, which are closed by flap-valves f, thearrangement of all these valves and openings being such as to admit theair forced into the receiver by the action of the pump,but to preventits escape. The air-pump is operated by the car preferably as the lattermoves in a downward direction. For this purpose a piston-rod, f, isattached to the under side of the piston 12, so that it projects beyondthe lower edge of the cylinder at when the piston is in its lowerposition. (See Fig. 1.) As the car approaches it-slowest position, thepiston-rod will strike the ground at g, and as the downward motion ofthe car continues the piston will be forced up into the cylinder,thereby compressing the air which has entered the cylinder through theopenings in the piston and forcing the sameinto the receiver J From thisreceiver extends a pipe, it, provided with a cook or valve, K, Figs. 1and 3, which can be operated by a handle, Z, in the interior of the car,and by means of which the compressed air from the receiver J can beadmitted to the valveoperating device L. This valve-operating device maybe' constructed in any convenient manner-for instance, as shown in thedrawings, where it consists of a cylinder, *5, in which is fitted apiston, j, which is connected by means of a piston-rod, It, with thevalve H.

The shell or chamber of the valve K eonnccts with the opposite ends ofthe cylinder i by means of pipes N P and M O, the sections N and M ofwhich are made flexible, so that they can follow the movements of thecar, and by turning the handle Z in the proper direction the compressedair from the receiver J can be admitted to either end of the cylinder i,and the valve H can be changed.

The body of the cock or valve K is provided with four passages, (seeFig. 3,) one of which, in, is connected with the airrecciver J, two, ao, with the flexible pipes M N, and one, 1), opens into the atmosphere.

Q, is the plug, provided with two passages, q and r. If this plug isturned to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the compressed airfrom the receiver J will enter the passage m and pass into the pipes Nand P and under the piston j in the cylinder i, so as to force the sameupward, permitting the air in front of this piston to pass out of thecylinder t through the pipes M and O, and through the passages n a" 19into the atmosphere.

If the plug Q is turned to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3,the compressed air from the receiver J enters the cylinder 1' throughthe pipe M 0 above the piston j, and the air contained in this cylinderbeneath the piston j is free to escape through the pipesP, N, and p. Inorder to stop the elevator-car at any point of its course, the plug Q isturned to the position indicated by dots and strokes in Fig. 3.

When it is desired to replenish the receiver J before the car reachesits lowest position, I may employ the device illustrated in Fig. 4. Inthis figure I attach a cross-head, s, to the piston-rod f, which carriestwo weighted levers, t, pivoted at a, which engage two stops, '0,pivoted to the guide-posts G. As the car descends, the levers t strikethe stops 1;, so as to arrest the motion of the cross-head s and thepiston b, and to compress the air in the cylinder it until the pressuretherein is greater than that represented by the weighted levers it, whenthe continued downward motion of the car causes these levers to assumethe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 until they have passed thestops 1;, when they will drop back to their normal position against theprojections 10, extending from t the cross-head. The stops 1) arepivoted to permit the levers t to pass as the car goes up.

It is obvious that the air-compressor could also be similarly operatedby the upward motion of the car, but this is less desirable, as it wouldadd to the load of the elevator, while if the air-eompressor is operatedas above first described the weight of the car and the ropes What Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the car of an elevator and the valve H, forcontrolling the motion of the car, of the valve K, arranged within thecar and controllable by an attendant, and an air-compressor comprising acylinder and reciprocating piston carried by the car and operated by themovement thereof, said valve in the car serving to adjust thecontrolling-valve H-at will by compressed air, substantially as hereindescribed.

2. The combination, with an elevator-car and with the valve H, forcontrolling the motion of said car, of the valve K, arranged in the carand controlled by an attendant, the air-compressor I, carried by the carand operated by the movement thereof, the air-receiver .T, theair-cylinder t, the pipes M O N P, leading from the valve K to thecylinder 1', and

the piston j, made to work in said cylinder and to connect with thevalve H, for operating said valve at will from the interior of the carby compressed air, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an elevator-car and with the valve H, forcontrolling the motion of said car, of the valve K, arranged in the carand controlled by an attendant, the air-compressor I, carried by the carand operated by the movement thereof, the weighted levers it, connectedto the piston of the aircompressor I, the stops 0, and connections,substantially as herein described, between the valve K and the valve H.

- 4. The combination, with an elevatorcar and with the valve H, forcontrolling the motion of said car, of the valve K, the air-compressorI, carried by the car, the air-receiver J, the air-cylinder z, tli'epipesM O N 1?, leading from the valve K to the cylinder 6, the piston j,made to work in said cylinder and to connect with the valve H, theweighted levers t, connected to the piston of the air-compressor, andthe stops asubstantially as sh own and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

E. F. KASTENHUBER, \V. HAUFF.

